Statue of ‘Blackrobe’ to Be Yanked

• Time for Christians around the world to stop turning the other cheek.

By Patrick J. Buchanan —

In early June, there came word thatSaint Louis University (SLU) willremove a heroic-sized statue of FatherPierre-Jean De Smet S.J. from thefront of Fusz Hall, where it hasstood for 60 years. The statue depictsDe Smet holding aloft a crucifixas he ministers to two American Indians, one of whom is kneeling.

Historically, the statue is accurate. DeSmet, or “Blackrobe” as he was known,was a 19th-century missionary to Indiantribes who converted thousands. A friendof Sitting Bull, he spent his last years in St.Louis.

And as the mission of this Jesuit universityis, presumably, to instruct the Catholicyoung in their faith and send them out intothe world to bring the good news of JesusChrist as Lord and savior to nonbelievers,what exactly is the problem here?

Senior Ryan McKinley is more specific:“The statue of De Smet depicts a history ofcolonialism, imperialism, racism and of Christian and white supremacy.”

But if the founder of Christianity is theSon of God, then Christianity is a superiorreligion. What Ryan and those faculty and staff seemto be ashamed of, uncomfortable with or unable todefend is the truth for which SLU was supposed to stand.

But simply because they are cowardly, or politicallycorrect, why should that statue be going intothe SLU art museum? Why should not they themselvesdepart for another institution where theirsensitivities will not be assaulted by artistic expressions of religious truths?

The message the SLU president should havegiven the dissenters is simple: We are a Catholicuniversity that welcomes students and faculty notof the faith. But if you find our identity objectionable,then go somewhere else. We are not changing who we are.

Yet another missionary to the Indians is now becominga figure of controversy. On his Septembervisit to Washington, D.C., Pope Francis plans tocanonize Fr. Junípero Serra, the Spanish Franciscanwhom John Paul II beatified in 1988. Serra convertedthousands of Indians in California in the 18th century when it still belonged to Mexico.

Serra established nine missions up the coast,among them missions that would grow into SanDiego, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

Not only is Serra’s name famous in California, hisstatue has stood since 1931 in the U.S. Capitol in oneof two places set aside for the Golden State. Theother statue representing California is that of PresidentRonald Reagan, unveiled in 2009, which replaced a statue of the preacher Thomas Starr King.

With the pope coming here to canonize Serra,the war drums have begun. It is said the priest accompaniedSpanish soldiers who brutalized the Indians,and Serra helped to eradicate their religion and culture, replacing it with his own.

Now a move is afoot to remove Serra’s statue.

According to the Religion New Service, “StateSen. Ricardo Lara, an openly gay Los Angeles Democrat,wants to replace a bronze statue of Serrawith a monument honoring Sally Ride,the nation’s first female astronaut. Larasaid Ride would become ‘the first memberof the LGBT community’ to be honored in Statuary Hall.”

Another drive is underway by feministsto remove the visage of Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill and replace it with that of a woman, preferably a minoritywoman. Jackson, it is said, wasresponsible for the ethnic cleansing ofthe Cherokees in the Trail of Tears.

Yet, Jackson, slashed across the headby a British soldier in the last days of theRevolution for refusing to polish hisboots, was also arguably the greatest soldier-statesman in American history.

Jackson led the 1815 defense of NewOrleans against the British invasionforce, and crushed the Indian maraudersin Florida, drove out the Spanish governor and cleared the path for annexation.

Twice elected president, Jackson is,with Jefferson, a father of the DemocraticParty, and he and his protegesSam Houston and James K. Polk virtuallydoubled the size of the United States.

But when we look at who is currently on America’scurrency—George Washington on the $1 bill,Abe Lincoln on the $5, Hamilton on the $10, Jacksonon the $20, Ulysses S. Grant on the $50, BenFranklin on the $100—do any of these women reallycompete in terms of historic achievement with what those great men accomplished?

Aren’t we carrying this affirmative action business a bit too far?

What all these arguments are at bottom allabout, however, is a deep divide among us over thequestion: Was the European Christian conquest ofAmerica, given its flaws and failings, on balance, a great and good thing, or not?

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